Sophie Dervaux has been principal bassoonist of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra since 2015. Previously, she was principal contrabassoonist of the Berlin Philharmonic.
She is a prizewinner of numerous prestigious competitions, including the ARD International Music Competition Munich (2013) and the Beethoven Ring Bonn (2014). As a soloist, she has performed with such renowned orchestras as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Orchestre National de Lyon. Her extensive solo repertoire includes works by Vivaldi, Saint-Saëns, Jolivet, Strauss, Mozart, Hummel, Haydn, Paganini and others.
Sophie Dervaux has performed at the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Philharmonie de Paris, Berlin Philharmonie, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Carnegie Hall New York, Royal Albert Hall London.
In October 2022 her third album Bach-Haydn with works by Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of Johann Sebastian, and by Johann Michael Haydn, younger brother of Joseph Haydn, was released by Berlin Classics. On this recording, made together with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Sophie Dervaux acts as bassoonist and conductor – as she does on her second album Mozart-Hummel-Vanhal (April 2022) with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. Sophie Dervaux made her conducting debut in 2019 with the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia. In addition to the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, she has also conducted the Orchestre Victor Hugo in Besançon, the chamber orchestra Les Sacqueboutiers, and the Aichi Chamber Orchestra, with whom she performed the world premiere of Félix Dervaux’s Nagoya Bassoon Concerto at Shirakawa Hall Nagoya (JP), among others.
Dervaux’s 2021 debut album impressions, recorded with pianist Sélim Mazari for Berlin Classics, was widely praised by the press and received the German Record Critics’ Award.
As a chamber musician, she regularly performs with world-renowned musicians and in 2020 recorded, together with Daniel Barenboim and Emmanuel Pahud, the Beethoven Trio for piano, bassoon and flute for Warner Classics.
In addition to her work in the orchestra and as a soloist, Sophie Dervaux teaches at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien and gives master classes at renowned conservatories worldwide. She has been a “Püchner Artist” since 2014 and is passionate about making her instrument more widely known.
She began her musical education on the guitar and clarinet and has been playing the bassoon since 2003. After training at the Versailles Conservatory, she studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon and at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. She then joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy (Karajan Academy). Her teachers include Carlo Colombo, Jean Pignoly, Volker Tessmann and Daniele Damiano.